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Regional Visioning

2011

Bear Lake Valley Blueprint (2011)

Envision Cache Valley Logo Envision Bear Lake Valley link The Bear Lake Valley Blueprint was a once in-a-generation opportunity to explore growth-related issues and think together about what Bear Lake County/Rich County area should be like in the future. Broad public participation and ownership was the key to a successful process and a vision that captures the place residents want to leave for future generations—a place marked by “Neighborly communities. Matchless recreation. Agricultural heritage. Unparalleled natural resources.”

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2010

Wasatch Canyons Tomorrow (2010)

Envision Cache Valley Logo Wasatch Canyons Tomorrow Wasatch Canyons Tomorrow was a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the public to help guide the policies which will form the basis of a revision of the 1989 Salt Lake County Wasatch Canyons Master Plan for City Creek, Emigration, Red Butte, Parley's, Millcreek, Big Cottonwood, and Little Cottonwood Canyons. The Master Plan is the basis for the County's land use planning policies and ordinances.

Process: The Wasatch Canyons Tomorrow process engaged the public in setting priorities and identifying long-term strategies to enhance the value of the canyons for current residents and future generations. Among other things, the process explored the impacts of increased canyon use and address issues such as land use and development, watershed protection and water quality, recreation, natural resource management, transportation, and public safety.The process was sponsored by the State of Utah, Salt Lake County, and Salt Lake City. The U.S. Forest Service was a supportive partner, supplying technical expertise.

The results of Wasatch Canyons Tomorrow will inform, but not supersede existing plans in the study area, such as the Wasatch-Cache National Forest Plan or Salt Lake City's Watershed Management Plan. The public participated in this process through workshops, open houses, and on-line surveys.

Report: The Wasatch Canyons Tomorrow report provides a menu of recommendations for projects, best management practices, and policies to be considered as we confront current and anticipated challenges in the management of the Wasatch Canyons. We also recognize that consideration of many of these recommendations will need future study and evaluation to determine their feasibility, environmental impact, compliance with federal, state and local laws, and compliance with existing management plans.

Below are links to the final report document, either in its entirety (lower resolution) or by chapter (higher resolution). If you would like additional information on the project please click on the Wasatch Canyons Tomorrow project logo above.

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Envision Cache Valley (2010)

Envision Cache Valley Logo Envision Cache Vision Summary Statement: Keep the city, city. Invest in our towns—our centers for living, industry and culture. Keep the country, country. Protect the agricultural and natural lands that sustain us.

Process: The Envision Cache Valley process engaged Cache County, Utah, Franklin County, Idaho, and the 25 municipalities in the valley in a joint process to explore regional growth issues. Almost 3,000 residents contributed their ideas and preferences, creating a regional vision that will act as a voluntary, yet powerful, framework to underpin long-term transportation planning, economic development, critical lands planning, and land use planning.

Report and Toolkit: The Envision Cache Valley Report and Toolkit outlines a summary of the process, features the region’s vision principles, highlights sample implementation strategies, and includes a toolkit targeted to achieving the vision principles.

Below are links to the final report document, either in its entirety (lower resolution) or by chapter (higher resolution). If you would like additional information on the project please click on the Envision Cache Valley project logo above.

Complete Document... (Lower Resolution = Smaller File)

Complete Document (by Chapter)... (Higher Resolution = LARGER files)

2008

Envision Morgan (2008)

Between 2000 and 2050, Morgan County will be among the most rapidly growing counties in Utah, with a 3.8% average annual rate of change in the population (GOPB 2008). Concern about the impact of growth on Morgan’s quality of life mounted as new growth became an increasingly apparent reality. To address growth concerns, community leaders engaged the public in a process of proactive planning to help shape the county’s future. Envision Morgan, facilitated by Envision Utah, enabled citizens to explore the challenges associated with growth. Through the process, citizens created a long-term vision outlining how to best manage future growth and preserve current quality of life.

2007

Blueprint Jordan River (2007)

Sponsored primarily by Salt Lake County, Blueprint Jordan River is a visioning exercise, looking at the river as it connects the Great Salt Lake to Utah Lake, 58 miles away. Envision Utah is facilitating this process through 15 municipalities and three counties.

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Vision Dixie (2007)

The Washington County Commission asked Envision Utah to facilitate a county-wide dialogue on growth issues. The public response to the effort was very strong. Washington County has been one of the nation's fastest growing counties.

2005

Wasatch Choices 2040 (2005)

Four Counties and Two Metropolitan Planning Organizations

Over 1000 residents of Weber, Davis, Salt Lake and Utah Counties attended 14 community workshops in 2005 as part of the Wasatch Choices 2040 effort. Through Wasatch Choices 2040, residents helped shaped the future roads and transit in their communities, and examined the relationship of the transportation system to neighborhoods, jobs, farms and open lands.

With the assistance of Envision Utah, public comments were carefully noted to form the basis for scenarios to explore new ideas in transportation and land-use that will influence the long-range transportation plans created by the Mountainland Association of Governments (MAG) and Wasatch Front Regional Council (WFRC).

MAG and WFRC are composed of mayors and county officials and are required to update the regional transportation plan every three years. This collaborative effort has been funded by MAG, WFRC, Utah Department of Transportation, Utah Transit Authority and Envision Utah. Staker Parsons sponsored the process's five open houses.

Wasatch Choices 2040 recognized that it is futile to project patterns of growth without thinking about the transportation investments we make. For example, freeways and boulevards support different forms of commerce, while transit supports walkable forms of development.

Two of the products to come out of this process are Growth Principles and a Vision Scenario. The elected officials of WFRC and MAG unanimously adopted the Growth Principles in late 2005.

The Vision Scenario provides one plausible illustration of how the region could grow if the Growth Principles are adopted. The Vision results in 18% less congestion, 12% more transit use, and 23 fewer square miles of land consumption relative to the fully built-out 2030 long-range transportation plan.

"We are one of the first places in the nation to use a publicly created vision to guide the long-range transportation plan, and the Wasatch Choices 2040 approach is a national model," said Ted Knowlton, Envision Utah's Planning Director. In developing the next long-range transportation plan, the two MPOs will look at how regional transportation choices affect broader issues, such as housing, critical lands, air quality, and more.

2004

Mountain View Corridor Study (2004)

The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) invited Envision Utah to serve as the neutral facilitator in developing Growth Scenarios for the Mountain View Corridor (MVC). Envision Utah ensured meaningful involvement from stakeholder groups and citizens of the 16 cities involved. The MVC represents the last opportunity for a second major transportation connection between Salt Lake and Utah Counties.

Envision Utah partnered with residents, local jurisdictions, UDOT, Mountainland Association of Governments, Wasatch Front Regional Council, and Utah Transit Authority to develop growth scenarios that jointly evaluated transportation land-use issues and solutions for approximately 40 miles in western Salt Lake County and northern Utah County.

The MVC project is an unprecedented attempt to integrate local land-use planning and a transportation corridor that crosses interjurisdictional boundaries. Millions of federal dollars can be saved by strategically adjusting both local land-use plans and regional transportation decisions together. UDOT had never before had land-use discussions with communities in conjunction with an environmental impact statement.

A widespread media campaign encouraged citizen involvement in the MVC process. Envision Utah hosted six community workshops for the 14 communities involved in the MVC. Residents were asked to design the type of community they want in 2030. Several hundred residents voiced their opinions on future land-use and transportation choices, including mass transit, farmland protection, walkable commercial areas, and economic development.

Following the workshops, Envision Utah staff gave detailed presentations to each of the 14 city councils on the potential economic impact of each land-use choice. Ten more community meetings were held to fine-tune the potential land-use growth scenarios. This data influenced which transportation choices would be implemented.

The Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget projects that by 2030 the population west of the Bangerter Highway will grow from 267,000 to 635,000 and employment opportunities will rise from 82,000 to 268,000. The current transportation network is clearly inadequate for this expected growth. The MVC is an attempt to meet this growing need, to develop future transportation infrastructure, and to improve the quality of life for these cities.

2003

Tooele County Regional Vision (June 2003)

The Tooele Valley has experienced rapid growth in the last decade. Between 1990 and 2000, Tooele County had the third highest growth rate in the state (53%), third only to Summit and Washington Counties. The growth of the Valley population is inevitable, however how and where that growth occurs is still within the power of the citizens of the Valley.

Residents of Tooele County came together to develop the Tooele Valley Regional Plan, to help understand the implications of current trends, and to outline alternatives to the current growth pattern. Through a totally interactive process, Tooele County residents and key stakeholders gave their input on critical issues facing the Tooele Valley, developing a regional vision to help them plan and prepare for the future.

2002

Davis County Shore Lands Vision (May 2002)

Envision Utah worked with the Open Space Sub-Committee of the Davis County Council of Governments, Nature Conservancy, the nine local municipalities bordering the Great Salt Lake within Davis County, and consultants, Sear Brown, to write and implement a comprehensive vision for the eastern shoreline of the Great Salt Lake in Davis County.

Local officials, developers, land owners, residents and other key stakeholders came together to develop a collaborative vision for the nine communities bordering the shores of the Great Salt Lake. A broadly and publicly supported plan has been developed that will guide growth and development in the area, while preserving the valuable agricultural and wetlands that these communities share.

Phase II of the Shorelands plan is now in full swing as Davis County pursues implementation. Conservation subdivisions, transfer development right programs, and conservation easements are just some of the ways that Davis County is working to protect the quality of life in their growing communities.

 

West Weber Vision (June 2002)

Weber County, the Townships of Reese, West Weber, Warren and Weber, and the neighborhood of Taylor worked with consultants Landmark Design and Envision Utah to assist residents in developing a community vision for the lands bordering the shore of the Great Salt Lake.

Working with key stakeholders and the general public, a plan has been developed to address a variety of land uses for the area including parks, trails, residential, commercial, agricultural, manufacturing, open spaces and other uses. West Weber County, unincorporated Weber County and the four townships, share valuable land and resources.

This planning provided them with a broadly and publicly supported vision that encourages quality growth and development with strategies to voluntarily preserve farmland and other critical land areas.

2001

Nebo Community Vision (August 2001)

Ten communities in South Utah County (Springville, Mapleton, Spanish Fork, Salem, Woodland Hills, Elk Ridge, Payson, Santaquin, Genola, Goshen) worked closely with Envision Utah, Mountainland Association of Governments, the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget, the Automated Geographic Reference Center and lead consultants, Swaner Design, to develop a vision for accommodating the high growth levels projected for the area.

The Nebo Vision was a process that gave citizens an opportunity to talk, and for leaders to listen. By working together, they created a regional vision, tools and resources to help each individual community plan for the future as they continue to grow.

The vision document can be downloaded below by clicking on the appropriate link, either by section of in it's entirety. Each is an Adobe PDF file. Adobe Reader can be downloaded from this site to view if not installed (http://get.adobe.com/reader/).

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